The mayor’s plan to privatize the concession stand at Manning Bowl may be a good idea, but to those familiar with working the stand, there is the belief that this is not the time to toy with it.
Last week, the Stadium Commission put the running of the stand out to bid – a move which leaves out in the cold those running the stand and depending on its income for their efforts.
Booster club members man the stand, cook the goods, sell the products, take in the money and then spend it on booster type items.
According to Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, what has been going on for decades is no longer suitable and the funds must be placed in a city account.
This is all well and good.
However, the reliance of boosters for the cash generated by the concession stand makes it imperative that they have control over it – and not that it be given to the lowest bidder for rent payment or a share of the profits.
The mayor’s interest in the concession fits with her ill-conceived notions of what is important about the city and what is not.
If, for instance, she were to care about city paid gasoline misused by those who have city owned automobiles, or wrongly granted sick days or vacation time, she could probably make some real cash for the city treasury.
But the concession stand at Manning Bowl?
Where is she going with that?
The mayor should be plotting how to get the downtown going. How many meetings with developers has she attended?
The mayor should get to work to raise the $2 million plus she needs for the Lynn Ferry to Boston to get underway.
How much has she been able to raise for that project?
The concession stand at Manning Bowl is not even the equivalent of a small corner store selling Lottery tickets.
By eyeing the concession stand, she is being what my dear old Dad would call being penny smart and buck foolish.
There’s a lot more money for the mayor to get her hands on if she does a quick study of overtime payments, and by going over contracts the city could be saving money on.
Her eagle eye has put the concession stand within her field of vision.
What a pity – for the dedicated people running the stand.
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